Was Spartacius' theory correct? Was Cala now a dark elf in this world? Was she no longer able to 'join the game' as herself?

“What level should our dark-elf-Cala reach to be able to say a spell of this magnitude?” - asked Alice - “I mean to pull us from here. Would a wolf level be necessary? Or even bear level? How long does it take to grow to bear level? Decades?”

“Oh, stop with that peasants' classification!” - said Tina - “It is stupid and confusing.”

“What do you mean?” - wondered the Lynx.

“Look, the kingdom uses the military classification, which is cleaner and more straightforward. You have novices, trainees, and veterans. Now each class can be split in two. Each except novices. Higher-level veterans are also named hardened veterans. Some people get confused about which is better: first class or second class; that's why hardened is the preferred denomination instead of second class. You have veterans and hardened veterans. Above come elites. Simple and clear, and you already speak of people higher level than wolf level, bear, or whatever other animals.

All officers must train to become at least veterans, as all nobility does.”

“Speaking of nobility, I have the feeling that you somehow missed those elite classes!” - wondered Alice watching Tina askew with a smile on her lips.

Tina rolled her eyes and sighed:

“Oh, well... There were two ways I could have leveled, as a cleric or as a sword warrior. Can you imagine me sweating in a stinking room with those ruffians and some mana crystals? No? Me neither! Or me praying for days on my knees in the same room? They do not open the windows, afraid that too much mana could get lost! As if mana cannot pass through walls and windows? Oh, I could have tried as a paladin too, but they said I had no talent. They wanted to make me a cleric. No, thank you! But I know how they work.”

"Archer?" - wondered Alice

Tina shrugged.

"Bows were not my friend."

“But why did you not try to learn to fight?” - wondered Spartacius - “At least to defend yourself?”

Tina sighed:

“I always had pa's lieutenants guarding me. Do you think I could become better and stronger than them? No? Then why should I do that? When you fight, the risk of getting hurt is bigger than when you don't.”

“And yet you ran from home to learn magic?” - asked Alice, now really wondering.

Tina sighed again.

“Magic is different. I always dreamed of becoming a witch. But it was forbidden. Hey, we were talking about level classification!” - said Tina, no longer feeling at ease with the turn of the conversation - “What I wanted to say was that the popular classification is incomplete and covers only lower levels. They stop at bears, which is strong but puny in comparison with Cala or you, Alice.”

“Lions, but true,” - nodded Alice.

“What level would a bear-level fighter be?” - asked Tina turning towards Spartacius.

“Bear-Level?” - wondered he trying to answer. It was clear that his mind was not on the conversation.

Tina rolled her eyes:

“I mean in your adventurers' guild classification!”

“Oh. That would be something about thirty-five, I think. But it varies from place to place.

Tina nodded and then turned to Alice:

“And what level are you, Alice?”

“Cala said that I am level eighty-four.”

“See! That was my point.” - said Tina with a grin - “The popular animal scale stops with the lion level. What level is a lion-level Spartacius?”

“Ahm, I think forty. But is your kingdom's classification better?”

“Oh yes. As I said, simpler, clearer and better. Hardened vets are already lion-level and above, then you have the elites! So simple and efficient: novices, trainees, veterans, elites.”

“And where does Alice fit in this classification? Is she elite?” - wondered the Lynx.

“Ahm. Alice and the like are outliers. I don't know. I guess she would be legendary...” - said Tina hesitatingly

“Then where do you put Cala and the Lynx?” - asked Spartacius with a laugher – “not to talk about Sid?”

“Are we talking now about dragons and other monsters?” - asked Tina with a shrug.

“More cookies please?” - asked Sid-the-monster poking Tina gently.

Alice sighed.

“Sid, I wonder if you did not have too many cookies?”

“Never too much!” - protested Sid.

“Oh, come on!” - said the Lynx in Sid's defense - “you need to multiply everything by one hundred if we talk about Sid's food!”

“I agree you talk about my food, but nothing about limiting anything!” - mumbled Sid, outraged.

The conversation turned to cookies and what quantity would be too much. Spartacius stood up and walked a bit as if to stretch his legs. Alice watched him going further away. After a while, she stood up at her turn and walked to come closer to him.

“Do you want to be alone?” - she asked as she reached him

“No,” - he answered - “just wanted to stretch my legs and think about things!”

She smiled:

“That was a good idea you had with the dark elf being Cala. I think you are right with your theory. I did not think at it!”

He gave her a sad smile in reply.

“Wow! A praise from Alice! Thank you! Well, it was easier for me to think at it, as I am one of those getting possessed, so I know a little how it works.”

“Are you angry?” - wondered Alice.

Her blue eyes lit when she looked at him. He shook his head:

“Angry? No. Why should I be angry?”

She furrowed her brows:

“Well, about Michael possessing you? Is this the right word? How do you cope with it?”

He gave a chuckle in response, his eyes towards the dark part of the cavern.

“Oh! No.” - he answered, turning towards her - “Interesting, but I am not angry. I think possession is the right word, even if, you know, I am at the same time also Michael?”

He gave a sour laugh.

“I was complaining that I am not even a spawn! Well, I found out that I am a spawn, so why should I be angry?”

He looked at her. As she did not say anything, he continued.

“I was a twenty years old man. Some time ago. Then Michael came, and now I am a twenty-year-old man with the mind of a fourteen-year-old boy” - he sighed - “Do you know that I had a girlfriend? Rosa was her name! I wonder what is she doing now? I left her. I left her in that quiet little village where nothing ever happens and went adventuring.” - his eyes became glassy as he tried to remember - “I wonder what did I forget about her or about my life. You see, I was twenty. Did I ever have sex?” - he shrugged - “I do not remember. Maybe I had none? Oh well. And yet I am not angry. I was a boy in a village somewhere in an obscure kingdom. Michael... took me over, and I became an adventurer. A warrior. I learned the skills of a warrior and have seen half of this continent already. Before Michael, my world was just that little village. Now I know that the world is far bigger. I would have never done this, so I have to thank Michael that he opened my eyes. To thank that part of me that is Michael, because he is part of me.”

He chuckled again, looking down, then he raised his eyes to watch her.

“On the other side, what Manchua the priest said is... well, it is not so far away from reality...”

“What do you mean?” - wondered Alice balancing on the other foot

“Devils. It fits perfectly to the description of devils coming from another realm to torment us.”

As he said that, he was watching her intensively. She asked, surprised:

“Devils? You do not think you are possessed by a devil... or do you?”

He laughed.

“Oh no. I was just explaining that I understood why Manchua the priest had come to his conclusions. Michael is innocent, but the truth is he comes here to play. For them, this is a game! Do you understand? For me, this is a game. For the Michael-me. But this is not a game.”

“Yes,” - nodded Alice - “This is what Cala said too!”

“True, but you need to understand what this means. I'll explain it to you.” - he made a couple of steps then continued - ”I thought about this when I found out that I am no longer protected. That's when I understood that it becomes really scary.”

Alice raised a brow, but she let him continue.

“See, on one side, they do not feel pain like we do. Pain is, for them, much attenuated. On the other side, one of the reasons why this game is very popular is that here everything is possible. You can do anything you want in this game. You can live your fantasies, and some people have very dark fantasies. There is no limit to anything, including cruelty and gore. Slaves? If you have gold, you can buy them by the dozens. For them, it is a game, but for us, spawns, this is not a game. We get to feel it; we get to feel the pain.”

“So you are afraid? Cruelty and deadly acts were plenty in this world, even without adventurers! Cannibalism, slavery, torture, mutilation, gore, and mayhem exist, and I do not think the adventurers are the driving force in any of it. Most of them fight against it. Do you doubt this?”

“No. I just realized that it becomes more personal, I guess.”

“Is this why you got away from us? You thought we would look at you as a devil-possessed spawn?”

He chuckled:

“No. I was wondering if there is no other way of getting out of the cavern. You see, I wonder why Cala did not put a portal in that damned ring. To pull us away with a spell is a feat of an archmage. How should she be able to do that if she is only a low-level elf?”

“Do you doubt Cala?”

He shook his head:

“No, but I doubt that she can perform miracles. She might need weeks, months, or years. Do we stay here and wait for her to do the work, or do we try to escape?”

“Escape? How?”

“I think I've seen a couple of smaller tunnels when I went last time around. I plan to explore those; maybe I can find another way out.”

“But you might get stuck in those narrow tunnels! Besides, even if you are lucky to find a way, you'll be very probably caught by those orcs and killed. It is dangerous. Didn't you say something about gore and torture? What do you think the orcs would do to those that try to escape? If anybody is going to try something, I should try. I am nimbler and stronger, but I would like to give Cala time. We are not pressed by time here.”

“You do not know what may happen and how much time we have. Besides, you cannot be the one to leave. You have the ring, and you have to bear it to load the portal. You have to stay where our people are. I do have some orc disguise in my inventory; I could trick my way with them if it comes to that; I did it already some time ago. Anyhow, first I'll just inspect the tunnels around to see if they lead anywhere, then we'll talk.”